Obama's day: New year, old threats

Events often force themselves onto presidential vacations. President Obama's end-of-the-year sojourn in Hawaii has been no exception, thanks to the Christmas Day near-bombing of an airliner in the skies over Detroit.

The official leading the review of the incident, counterterrorism adviser John Brennan, needed an ethics waiver because he had a hand in designing the watch-list system and has had private dealings in the past with the National Counterterrorism Center.

The Christmas attack has provoked a political storm, including another dust-up between Bush administration Vice President Dick Cheney and the Obama White House.

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About David Jackson

David's journalism career spans three decades, including coverage of five presidential elections, the Oklahoma City bombing, the 2000 Florida presidential recount and the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He has covered the White House for USA TODAY since 2005. His interests include history, politics, books, movies and college football -- not necessarily in that order. More about David